The Bronze Age in north-eastern Serbia – metallurgy, settlements and necropoles
Research leads:
Dr Aleksandar Kapuran (Institute of Archaeology Belgrade),
Dr Mario Gavranović (Department for Prehistory & Western Asian/Northeast African Archaeology, Austrian Archaeological Institute, Austrian Academy of Sciences)
Igor Jovanović (Museum of Mining and Metallurgy)
Team:
Mathias Mehofer (Vienna Institute for Archaeological Science, University Vienna)
Institutions involved in the research process:
Institute of Archaeology, Belgrade;
Austrian Archaeological Institute, Vienna;
Museum of Mining and Metallurgy, Bor;
Vienna Institute for Archaeological Science, University of Vienna.
The Čoka Njica site was established in the 1990s by curator Tonko Rajkovača. Archaeological research was conducted in 2019 and 2021, during which time, in addition to residential buildings devastated by erosion, a copper smelting installation was discovered. Ceramics from this context belong to the Middle Bronze Age.
The Ružana 1 site was discovered by I. Jovanović based on information received from the Vasić family from Banjsko Polje, in whose yard metallic slag and ceramics from the Bronze Age were discovered. Investigations were conducted in 2013, 2014, and 2016, during which time a copper ore smelting furnace and a larger slag pit were discovered. Ceramics and other finds from the Early Iron Age, and Early and Late Antiquity were deposited on the site from higher elevations through erosion. The absolute dates indicate that the furnace and the slag kiln originated from the 18th/17th century BC. Analysis of metallic slags yielded certain information about the technological processes of copper smelting during the first half of the 2nd millennium.
The Ružana 2 site is located in the immediate vicinity of Ružana 1 on the plot of the Jorgovanović family. Research on this site took place during 2015, during which time the dislocated remains of a furnace for melting copper, metallic slag, and ceramics from the Middle Bronze Age were discovered.
Selected bibliography:
Д. Срејовић, М. Лазић, 1997 – Насеља и некрополе бронзаног доба у Тимочкој крајни, у: М. Лазић (ур.) Археологија источне Србије, Центар за археолошка истраживања Филозофског факултета, Београд, 225 – 244.
